Cursed Beyond Cursed
by WorkingToLive
Summary: For years Akito has had an iron grip on his sister,will she be able to break away? Will her cousins help her? Or is she only put on this planet to take over if he dies?
1. Moving Out

**A/N: Hello, This is my first Fruits Basket fan fiction, but I hope you enjoy it. This is also the first time I've written anything this dark…so bear with me.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket!**

_Moving out_

_Man what a long day…_

A girl with long black hair thought to herself as she threw the brown looking brief case over her shoulder. She had on her school uniform, a black, knee length skirt, and a simply white blouse with a black jacket over it. As she approached a large wooden gate, her dark brown eyes glanced at the residence name _Sohma._ Letting out a sigh she placed her hand on the door knob and let herself in.

_Good, people are gone…_ Making her way towards the largest home she noticed an old woman peeking out through a slightly opened door. The girl stopped walking and stared at the woman; she dropped her briefcase and suddenly jolted towards the door.

"Don't you dare shut that door!" Stretching out her hand, her long fingers had almost gotten a grasp on the door knob only to see the very same door slam and lock. "DAMNI…DAMN …DAMN! Let me in right now!"

"I'm sorry miss Sohma…your brother told me not to let you in." An old withering voice came from inside the house.

"Listen you decrepit old woman, either let me in…or I'll burn this whole god damn place to the ground!"

"Now, Etsuko, is that any way to ask for something?"

She turned her head to look disgustingly at a man lying against the window sill. "I shouldn't have to ask Akito…after all I live here to."

A weak laugh escaped Akitos' mouth. "I allow you to live here, and today I've decided to prohibit you from entering."

Etsuko closed her eyes, this wasn't anything new to her, Akito had done this before and a week or so later he'd allow her to come back. _Well this time I'm not coming back _

"Go ahead and kick me out, I don't want to live here, I'll find somewhere else to stay!" Etsuko spun herself around and stomped towards her brief case she had dropped earlier. Picking it up, clutching the handle tightly, she angrily made her way to the main entrance and let herself out slamming the door behind her.

Akito watched his little sister leave with a solace look on his face. "She'll be back...if she wants these." He pulled out a small orange container filled with pills and rattled it.

***At Shigures' House***

"Kyo, Yuki, Shigure, dinner time." A sweet voice filled the house as Tohru placed the last of the smoked salmon on the table.

Shigure was the first at the table taking in all the wonderful smells and letting out a sigh. "Tohru you've out done yourself once again."

"Out of my you damn rat!" the orange haired boy yelled as he was shoulder to shoulder with Yuki as they both tried to walk down the stairs at the same time.

"Why don't you just wait till I get down the stairs you stupid cat?" Yuki was in no mood to bicker with Kyo tonight, but he wasn't going to let him beat him down the stairs.

"Oh like I'd let you go ahead of me! I was here first-" His sentence was cut short as he was sent flying down the stairs head first.

"There…" Yuki said matter-of-factly as he stepped over Kyo and made his way towards the dinner table.

Kyo lifted himself up, and stomped his way to the table, when Yuki was in his mood he knew better than to aggravate him further.

"I made everyone's favorite tonight, I hope you en-" Tohru was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I wonder who it could be." She got up from the table and made her way towards the front door, as she opened the door Etsuko barged in with a few shopping bags dropping them on the ground.

"Hey take care of these will ya?" She smiled at Tohru and walked past her towards the table full of food. "Oh good, you're just getting started, I'm starving!" She picked up a pair of chopsticks and made her way towards the smoked fish but a sharp pain coming from her wrist stopped her from going any further.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kyo had grabbed her wrist. "You can't just barge in here like you own the place, and you defiantly can't treat Tohru like one of your maids."

Pain was running through Etsuko's wrist, it was still sore from a few days ago when Akito had squeezed it near breaking point. Not able to take the pain anymore she brought her other hand and punched him in the nose. "Let me go!"

Kyo instantly released her wrist and brought his hands up to his nose, tears forming in his eyes. "What the hell did you do that for?"

Ignoring his question Etsuko stood back up and turned towards Tohru who had been watching from the door frame. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's right." She bowed "I didn't introduce myself, my name is Etsuko Sohma it's nice to meet you."

Tohru bowed in return. "Oh it's very nice to meet you. So you're a Sohma…does that mean you transform like the others? Well I guess that doesn't make much sense, I met all twelve of the zodiac and Kyo makes thirteen…oh maybe there's another animal that didn't get invited to the banquet."

Etsuko just stared at her as she babbled on. "Uh no, I'm not cursed like my cousins…"

"Does Akito know you're here?" Shigure butted in.

Etsuko's hands turned into fists as her body physically tensed up. "Akito? I've never heard of the bastard!"

Shigure shrugged. "Regardless, I will have to call Hatori and let him know-" He was caught short by a kick in the head causing his face to land in a bowl of rice.

"If you call him, I'll be forced to come back here while you sleep and cut off every limb from your body…and I mean _every_ limb. Got it?"

He lifted one of his hands and formed a shaky thumbs up and a slight nod.

_I wonder why she doesn't want Hatori to know she's here. _ Tohru thought to herself, but soon snapped out of it and looked down at the bags that Etsuko had dropped off. "Uhm, Etsuko will you be staying the night?"

"Like hell she is!" Kyo jolted up from the table "If she stays then I swear I'm going back to the mountains!"

"Go ahead, no one's stopping you." Yuki muttered before he placed some rice into his mouth.

"God Damn it you're really starting to piss me off you stupid rat!" He grabbed the collar of Yuki's shirt and lifted him to his feet.

"And you've been on my nerves since you came back."

Etsuko watched the two fight for some time before turning her attention back at Tohru. "Oh yea, I was just planning to stay for a little bit…if that's okay with Shigure."

Shigure stood up from the table and stood next to Etsuko. "It's fine, as long as you think you'll be okay without your medicine."

"Well if you need medicine I can go and get some, it's not a problem." Tohru scurried around as she looked for her jacket.

"Uh, this is different kind of medicine…I'll be fine without it, really it's not a big deal." Etsuko said as she tried to calm Tohru down. "Besides it's late and if I really need it…Hatori can bring it over."

"A-are you sure?"

"Positive. I'll just take my bags and head up to your room, if you're fine with sharing."

Tohru nodded her head. "Oh it's fine, I'd be happy to share a room with you."

Etsuko bent down and picked up her bag and made her way up the stairs and found her way into Tohru's room. As she placed the bags on the floor she walked towards and the bed and sat on the edge and stared at her slightly swollen wrist.

_***Flash Back***_

"_I told you never keep me waiting!" Akito screamed as he shoved Etsuko into the wall and pinned her wrist above her head. _

"_You're hurting me." Etsuko let out a whimper. _

_His grip on her only tightened as a sick smile was plastered on his face. "Oh I am? Well good, now you know how I felt when you missed our daily tea." _

_She could feel his grip on her right wrist was getting tighter and tighter, the bones felt as if they were seconds from snapping in half. "I-I'm sorry…" _

"_Sorry? Sorry doesn't fix anything, when you say sorry it doesn't teach you a lesson…only punishment will. You're lucky that you're my sister or else this inexcusable action wouldn't be tolerated." _

_She was then thrown to the ground, landing on her right wrist with all her body weight. Tears began to run down her face. He walked around her, his feet by her face, he cupped her chin and brought her up into a sitting position, her head tilted back enough so he could look into her eyes. _

"_Now, next time don't be late or else were going to have this conversation in the room." _

_Her eyes widened as he nodded. As he let go of her chin she stood up slowly and bowed before hurrying out of his room and into her own. _

***End Flashback***

Etsuko's head jerked up as the door creaked opened. Tohru popped her head in and then her whole body. "I hope I'm not bothering you, but I'm just here to put down a mat so I can sleep later tonight."

"You don't have to sleep on the ground…I'll do it."

"Oh no, it's okay really. You're the guest so you can have my bed."

This girl was getting on Etsuko's nerves. "Listen, I'm technically the guest so I'll sleep on the floor, and you sleep on the bed."

"B-but you're just staying here for a bit, please take my bed."

Etsuko eye twitched a bit, she stood up from the bed and walked towards Tohru grabbed the mat from her, placed it on the ground and sat on it. "It's settled I'm sleeping here…now drop it."

"O-okay." Tohru smiled as she knelt on the ground in front of Etsuko. "So I hope I'm not prying or anything but…if you're not one of the zodiac, how do you know Akito?"

She knew this question was going to be brought up sooner or later. Letting out a sigh Etsuko ruffled through her bags as she began to explain. "We'll…how do I put this…Akito is my…brother."

"Really? I didn't know Akito had any siblings."

She pulled out a long blue night gown and stood up. "The family doesn't really talk about it much. It's a long story it would take too long to explain it, so I guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own." With that being said Etsuko made her way out the door down the hall and into the bathroom. Closing the door behind her she drew some water and got undressed, the scars on her back were reflected by the mirror.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it, I know it wasn't very dark for the majority of the time, but as the story progresses and secrets are exposed the story will get a bit more depressing. I'm not sure how well they'll turn out to be but it'll be fun to try this new style of writing! (Oh and about the whole tea thing with Akito…it'll be explained later on) **


	2. The Pill

**A/N: Sorry for such a late update, life has taken me away from writing, but I'm back! Okay, so I'm putting Hatori into this chapter, I see him like a father figure, and I hope I've gotten his personality down. If not let me know and I apologize beforehand. I hope you enjoy! **

**The Pill**

"_You're stupid, do you know that?" Akito stood up from behind the table in his room, making his way to the other side standing in front of Etsuko. "Thinking you could make friends with the rest of the family. They hate you because they hate me." His hand swooped down and gently rested on her check. "I'm the only one who likes you; I'm the only one you can talk to."_

The smell of grilled fish woke Etsuko from her sleep, sitting up she rubbed her eyes. "…I'm starving…" She looked to the side of her where Tohru's bed was, only to see it neatly made. Getting up; she slid the door open and made her way down the stairs, the wonderful smell getting stronger.

"Oh Etsuko, you're up." Tohru smiled as she walked towards the table placing the last of the food down. "I hope you slept well."

"Yep." Etsuko kneeled at the table and began to eat.

_I know it's not any of my business, but I can't help feel that I did something wrong to make Etsuko…angry at me." _Tohru continued to look at Etsuko, who had seemed less lively today.

"You all better get a move on, or you'll be late for school." Shigure chimed, breaking Tohru's train of thought.

"Oh your right! I completely forgot about school!" She stood up and scurried around looking for her bag.

Kyo noticed her bag up against the wall just by the door, sighing he picked it up and held it out for her. "Here"

Tohru stopped and looked at Kyo. "Thank you Kyo"

"Yea…well keep better track of your stuff...Kay?"

"Y-yes." The three of them all headed for the door. Tohru stopped; turned around to look at Etsuko still sitting at the table. "Um aren't you coming to school to?"

Etsuko only shook her head slowly poking the untouched food in front of her.

"I hope you're feeling all right, you don't have a fever do you? I could stay home and-"

Shigure popped up beside her and turned Tohru around and gently pushed her out the door. "There's no need for you to miss a day of school. Etsuko goes to an all-girls school; it's a bit far so I'll just drive her there."

As she was being pushed out, Tohru kept looking behind her worryingly. "I-if you're sure…"

"Positive, now go on don't want to keep Yuki and Kyo waiting do you?"

Tohru looked to Kyo and Yuki, both a few feet ahead of her waiting, Kyo looking annoyed and Yuki looking patiently. "N-no of course not. All right well be safe." She ran off to catch up with the other two.

"Well it's about time!" Kyo stomped off once Tohru was close enough.

"I'm sorry…"

"No need to apologize especially to the stupid cat." Yuki smiled as he walked next to her.

"Who're you calling stupid?" Kyo snapped back around.

"I didn't stutter, or maybe you're deaf and dumb."

"That's it I'm going to kick your girly little ass!"

"I'd like to see you try." Yuki walked passed him poised as Tohru continued to freak out about them fighting,

Shigure watched them from the door until they were out of his sight. He let out a small sigh and slid the door shut.

"I'm not going." A gloomy voice filled the room.

Shigure came back to the table. "Hmm what do you mean?"

Etsuko never looked up from her plate. "School…I'm not going to school."

"Not like that you're not…we don't have any of your medicine here I'll just have to call up Hatori and see if can't swing by"

Normally Etsuko would have protested but instead she let out a sigh and stood up. "Whatever." She walked out of the room and walked back up stairs.

Shigure picked up the phone and called the main house. "Oh Hatori, you picked up I'm so glad! I need you to come by the house immediately; I've got some juicy secrets to tell you!"

On the other end, Hatori leaned back in his swivel chair. "If you're not going to be serious stop calling here…I'm hanging up now."

"No wait! Hari, I was just joking, but I do need you here. It's Etsuko…it's started." Shigures joyful tone quickly became serious.

"I see, so she's been hiding out at your house. It's only been a day has she already relapsed? I see I'll be there as soon as I'm giving the others their flu shots." He hung up the phone and grabbed the little orange bottle with Etsuko's name on it.

***With Kyo, Yuki, Tohru.***

They had made it to school early and had some time to spare before classes started, Kyo went to sit in class, fed up with Yuki, while Tohru and Yuki stood by a cherry blossom tree.

"Miss. Honda, are you feeling well? You've been quiet this morning." Yuki placed the back of his hand on her forehead.

"What….oh no I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you worry like that. I'm fine." Her face turned a light shade of red from embarrassment. "It's just…well I know it's not any of my business but today Etsuko didn't seem like herself today."

Yuki removed his hand from her forehead. He knew she would ask that sooner or later. "Well you see Miss. Honda, what you saw this morning was more like Etsuko than what you saw last night."

Tohru looked up at Yuki confused. "But she seemed…lonely."

"Ever since we were children Etsuko has always seemed that way. I don't know too much about why she's like that I just know if she doesn't take her medicine that she slowly becomes more and more depressed."

Tohru looked down at the ground. "That's…so sad."

Yuki noticed how this conversation was getting darker and he didn't want to make Tohru feel bad. "But as long as she takes her medicine her sadness seems to disappear and a happier Etsuko comes out."

"Not being able to feel happy on your own, needing a pill to make you feel happy. I wonder just how much she is hurting, how much she's bottling up inside."

The bell rang notifying the students it was time to head in for class. Yuki didn't mean to make Tohru feel sad and as they both walked into the building he began to think how Etsuko really must feel.

***Shigure's house* **

Hatori drove up to Shigure's house, holding his brief case and wearing his white lab coat. Opening the unlocked door he took his shoes off and stepped inside.

"Oh Hari you're just in time! Etsuko is starting to get me all depressed, talking about killing herself and things." Shigure tugged on the sleeve of Hatori's lab coat.

Finding this little piece of information alarming, he shot a glare at Shigure. "Where is she?"

"She said something about taking a bath…drowning in her sorrow…I think."

Hatori pushed Shigure off of him. "Do you really have no understanding on clinically depressed people?" He made his way up stairs and tried to open the bathroom door only to find it locked. "Etsuko open this door right now."

There was no answer, Hatori pressed his ear against the door and heard nothing as well. He jiggled the door knob, trying to break the lock. "Etsuko I said open this door." His voice became louder.

"I can't…" Etsuko said hiding behind the door to Tohru's room. "I tried but I think Shigure locked it."

_So he does know what to do…_Hatori thought to himself, feeling a bit exhausted he let go of the door knob and made his way into Tohru's room.

Etsuko glumly sat on the bed as Hatori moved the chair from the desk to the bed side. He sat down in front of her and opened his bag pulling out the orange container, a needle, and a tiny glass bottle filled with clear liquid.

"What would you like first, the flu vaccine or your medicine?"

Etsuko pointed to the vaccine. Hatori nodded and pulled up one of her sleeves and warped a rubber band tightly around her bicep. He placed his forefinger and middle finger on her arm, where her elbow bent and felt for a pulse. Once he found one he filled the needle with the liquid and gently poked her skin and injected the vaccine into her, quickly placing a bandage on it once he had finished.

"Now that's done…" He picked the orange bottle and took the cap off pouring out one little white pill onto his hand and brought it up to Etsuko. "Here take this."

Etsuko only looked at the pill, she shook her head.

They went through this every time, Hatori pulled his hand back and looked at Etsuko with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "You know what I'm going to say don't you? We can do this the easy way or we can do this my way Etsuko, it makes no difference to me."

Etsuko flopped down on Tohru's bed ignoring Hatori's little threat.

"I see…" He stood up and loomed over her body, his knee between her legs, while the other leg was against the bed. A hand came down and pinched the sides of her nose together gentle enough not to hurt her by tightly enough to stop the air flow. If she wanted to breathe she would have to open her mouth.

Etsuko was able to keep her breath held longer this time, but after only a few seconds she started to feel her face turn red from the lack of oxygen. Her head felt lighter and her vision became somewhat blurry to her. She had no choice but to open her mouth and as she did Hatori's other hand quickly popped the pill in her mouth.

Making sure she wouldn't spit it out He kept his hold on her nose and placed his other hand across her mouth. "All you have to do it swallow and I'll lift my hands." He watched Etsuko swallow the pill regretfully, and as he promised he let go and allowed her to breathe once more.

Shigure walked by and noticed Hatori's position and snickered. "I didn't know you were so kinky Hari."

Hatori pushed himself off the bed and picked up his briefcase. "It's your turn, pull up your sleeve."

Not knowing what he was talking about Shigure obliged happily. The rubber band was wrapped around his arm and once the needle was ready Hatori stuck the needle in without warning. He slapped on a band aid. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have matters to attend to elsewhere." Before he left he looked back at Etsuko, who was still lying on the bed.

"You're so mean Hatori; you don't just stab the others with needles." Shigure rubbed his arm while tears ran down his face.

"I'll be back as soon as possible for Kyo and Yuki's shot. Also I left a bottle of Etsuko's pills make sure she takes one every morning." With that he walked past the crying Shigure and put his shoes back on and left the house.

"So, how was she? Is she still alive?" A mocking voice came from the back.

Hatori looked into his mirror, and stared at Akito. "Yes, she's still alive."

"Shame" Akito turned and looked out the window as they drove back to the main house.

***Later that day***

As Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru walked through the door of the house they were greeted by an enthusiastic Etsuko.

"Welcome home everyone! I'm so glad you made it before the food got cold." She grabbed everyone's book bag and neatly placed them against the wall. "I hope you're hungry, since I didn't know what everyone liked I just made a little bit of everything."

"Well at least she's back to normal" Kyo muttered as he walked into the eating area. His mouth fell opened as he saw the table covered with open-handed food.

"Oh wow you made all of this?" Tohru asked while she kneelt by the table and marveled at how pretty the food was.

"Yep, I hope you all like it."

Yuki stared at the table before joining Tohru. "Etsuko you really didn't have to do this."

"I know but I felt so bad for treating Tohru so rudely last night that I had to find a way to apologize."

"So you thought food was the answer, why not just say you're sorry? There's no way in hell we can eat all of this! It's a waste of food." Kyo flopped down and picked up chopsticks and began shoving food in his mouth.

Etsuko nodded. "You're right Kyo…I'm sorry I wasn't thinking very clearly. Tohru I'm sorry I didn't mean to waste all this food like this."

"Oh no, no, no you don't have to apologize. This food will keep and we'll just have lots of left overs." Tohru reinsured her. "I'm just happy to see you more energetic."

Etsuko let out a laugh and nodded. "Yea well sometimes I get into moods like that. I hope I didn't worry you."

The five of them all sat down for dinner, sharing stories, yelling, and laughter. Once the dishes were done, Kyo, Yuki and Tohru went upstairs to study. Etsuko stayed down stairs looking for Shigure.

Walking up to the door where he writes, Etsuko slid it open to find him fiddling with a pencil. "Sorry to bother you Shigure, I'll come back later."

Craving any kind of attention Shigure waved her in. "No, no you're not bother me at all. I was just taking a break. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would do me a favor."

Shigure tilted his head to the side. "I'll see what I can do."

"I wanted to go to the same school as the others…Kyo and Yuki oh and Tohru that is." Etsuko blushed slightly as she looked away from Shigure.

"You don't enjoy you're other school?"

"It's not that…I just really want to be friends with Tohru, and maybe if we go to the same school I'd get to know her better that way." Etsuko suddenly slammed her hands on his desk and looked at him determined.

Shigure just smiled and nodded. "I'll call the school, I think they're still open, and inform the main house. Okay?"

Smiling she nodded. "Thank you, oh but I don't have a uniform…"

"Well if you don't mind walking into school with an old man, I'll take you in and get your uniform and classes all settled tomorrow."

"Thanks' Shigure, you're the best I don't know what I would do without you." Etsuko giggled and walked out.

_I can't wait until tomorrow; this is going to be so much fun._

Etsuko opened the door to Tohru's room and saw the mat she had slept on was occupied by a sleeping Tohru. She smiled and picked up the books that were on the ground and placed them on her desk. Not wanting to wake up Tohru, she gently made her way into the bed and turned the lights off drifting off to sleep.


	3. Trust Issues

**A/N: Chapter three is up! Thanks for the reviews I'm glad everyone is enjoying it. To tell you all the truth I'm not sure where this story is going anymore…so I'm just going to write what pops in my head and make some tweaks. I'm sorry if you had exceptions on how it should go but I hope you like it in the end. I found a story online that made my eyes water because it made me think of Etsuko and the other Sohmas! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. **

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket_

**Trust Issues**

_What a beautiful day it turned out to be. _Etsuko stared out the window from Tohru's room. Today was her first day at her new school, Hatori called and instructed that Shigure stay home, he would come by and take care of all the preparations himself. The others had already left, and Tohru promised to make sure and greet her once she got there.

The door slid open, Shigure walked in holding the orange bottle. "Good morning, I trust you slept well?"

She turned towards Shigure and smiled nodding. "Yes, I hope you did to."

"Well you know the life of a writer; sleep is just a dream waiting to be dreamt."

"That…doesn't make any sense." Etsuko noticed the pill bottle in his hand and sighed a bit. "I see you're following Hatori's orders."

Shigure had completely forgotten the initial reason he came upstairs. "Well you know Hatori, if I don't do as he says he'll scold me…and he is a bit terrifying when he's angry."

"Since when do you follow any kind of orders?" Etsuko smiled as she gladly took the pill from Shigures hand.

"You know Etsi-chan; you look beautiful when you smile."

Cocking her head to the side a bit confused Etsuko stared blankly at him. "Etsi…Chan? What is that?"

"Well I just gave you a nick name, like Hatori is Hari, and Ayame is Aya…you're Etsi."

Still a bit puzzled Etsuko brushed it off and smiled again after taking her pill. "I see, well I'm so glad you feel the need to give me a nick name…it's cute."

Shigure nodded and closed the bottle; just before he walked out of the room he stopped and looked back at her. "Really Etsuko, when you're happy like this it makes you appear more lively." He slid the door closed and made his way back downstairs.

As he left her alone Etsuko's smile feel, she brought her knees up against her chest and she stared at her toes_. "Does it…when I smile does it really make me look beautiful, or more lively…because Shigure I always feel dead inside when I take those pills…"_

It wasn't long before Hatori came by the house. He waited downstairs for Etsuko and tried his best to ignore the whining Shigure tugging at his sleeve. "Oh Hari, why can't I come to? I'll be good I promise."

"I don't need to be babysitting two children today, you'll stay home." Between Akitos out raged tantrums and the entire estate contracting a cold, Hatori was in no mood to deal with his cousins antics.

Etsuko finally made her way downstairs and without any greetings being exchanged Hatori walked out the door. "He's not in a very good mood is he? Well bye Shigure, please be good!" She waved goodbye before sliding the door shut behind her.

As she entered the back of the car she froze before getting in. just across from her was Akito sitting and looking out the window not acknowledging her at all. She felt like running, slamming the door of the car and running far away.

He turned his head staring into her eyes, and a malicious grin creeping on to his face. "It's been a while hasn't. Come sit, we mustn't keep the school waiting."

As she got into the car Etsuko shut the door and sat as far away from her brother as possible. Just his presence made her body quiver.

He patted the seat next to him, the grin never fading for a moment. "Now, now don't be frightened Etsuko, I'm not angry with you. Please sit closer to me, I just want to talk."

She knew better than to believe him, but there was nothing she could do but oblige with his request. As she moved closer to him she could feel his hand rest on top of her head.

"See now is that so bad?" Akito began to play with strands of her hair. "You know I've missed you so much. The house is lonely without you."

Etsuko didn't say a word which only gave Akito a reason to get angry. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back so her eyes would be forced to look into his. "Did you hear me? I said I missed you, how dare you run away from me like that, after all I've done for you." His grip only got tighter as his voice became louder.

"That's enough Akito." Hatori intervened before anything too serious happened.

Glaring at Hatori and then back at his sister Akito scoffed and pushed her away from him, causing her body to slam against the car door. "You make me sick, just seeing your face makes me want to vomit."

Etsuko put her hands out in front of her as she fell into the car door, her head hit the window. She stayed hunched over until they reached the school, once Hatori parked the car she swung the door open and got half way out of the car before being yanked back inside.

Akito squeezed her arm tightly. "I will be seeing you tonight, don't make me come find you." He let go and allowed her to leave.

Shutting the car door behind her, she stood there collecting her thoughts. Letting out a sigh Etsuko lifted her head and smiled putting everything that had just happened out of her head. Hatori took a bit longer to get out of the car, probably getting scolded for interfering, but once he came out he began to walk into the school building.

"Thank you for driving me here." Etsuko said surprisingly cheerful.

Hatori stopped walking and turned around. "You're welcome, and I'm sorry for not telling you about Akito being gin the car, he requested to see you and I knew if I had told you, you would've run off."

"I understand, let's forget it and continue with our day." She grabbed onto his arm and continued to walk.

***Flash Back***

"_No! I won't allow it!" Akito threw the vase at Hatori, causing his eye to begin bleeding. Kana was terrified by the horrific events that had just taken place. She was in no condition to take care of Hatori; she was in no condition to take care of herself. _

_Many days went by, Kana had started to blame herself for Hatori's injury, and soon feel into a deep depression. It wasn't long before Hatori made up his mind to erase Kanas memories, it was hard for him but he knew that doing this would help. _

_Once Kana was gone, only fragments of evidence that she even exited lingered in his office. A knock came from his door and without waiting for an answer it slid open. A younger Etsuko stood in the door way looking at him with saddened eyes. _

"_I'm sorry." She walked into his office and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry for what brother did to you, I'm very sorry." Tears began to roll down her face as she continued to apologize. "I've never wanted you to fell the unhappiness that I do." _

_Hatori sat there motionless, taking in the last part of what she said wondering to himself if the sadness in his heart that he's felt for a few months could really exist in a person their entire life._

***End Flash Back***

"Oh Etsuko, Hatori I see you guys made it." Tohru caught up to them from behind. "Oh! H-Hatori…Etsuko…she's…hugging you…how is that possible? I thought she wasn't one of the members, how are you not transforming."

Etsuko looked down and noticed she was still hugging Hatori's arm. She let go and laughed. "I didn't mean to freak you out or anything Tohru, I'm sorry. When I hug the other members of the zodiac they don't transform but we aren't exactly sure why."

"You really shouldn't be hugging his arm Etsuko, people may talk." Yuki chimed in as he walked out of the main office catching only the last part of their conversation.

"Will they really? Oh well then you're right. Hatori's only here because we need to get my classes set up."

Tohru clapped her hands together. "Oh so you're transferring to our school, I'm so glad to hear that."

"I'm going ahead and getting everything set up now, wait here." Hatori disappeared into the main office.

"I'm really sorry to leave you standing out here by yourself but Miss. Honda and I have to get to class now, I hope you'll join us for lunch later."

Etsuko nodded as she waved good-bye, thinking it would be a good idea to explore the school on her own while waiting she spun around and began her adventure. Not even a foot past the door to the main office Etsuko had ran into someone causing papers to fly up in the air and the two of them falling to the ground.

"Opps, I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going." Etsuko got on her hands and knees trying to pick up as many of the scattered papers.

"No, I'm sorry, I should have been aware of my surroundings." A boy with brown hair apologized while picking up his papers.

They both looked at one another and began laughing at the situation. Once they had picked up the paper, they both stood up, only to fall back down in agony, Etsuko holding the back of her head and the boy holding his hand over his nose, both dropping the papers back on to the ground.

Rubbing her head to soothe the pain Etsuko picked the papers up again and slowly stood up, looking down at the boy, who was still holding his nose. Only this time droplets of blood dripped onto the floor.

Her eyes zoned in on the blood and cause Etsuko to completely panic. "Oh no! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean for you to bleed…no what I meant was I didn't mean to hit you, it was an accident I swear." She waved her arms in the air as she frantically apologized.

He shook his head as he wiped the blood from his nose and stood up. "Please calm down, I'm fine. It's just a little bit of blood. I just came over here to welcome you; I'm Minoru Tamotsu, class representative of class 1-D."

Looking at him Etsuko smiled, she couldn't explain why but something about this boy, Minoru Tamotsu, made her feel happy inside. "It's very nice to meet you I'm Etsuko Sohma."

"Sohma? Oh does that mean you're related to all of the other Sohmas here?"

Etsuko nodded. Her head turned towards the door as it opened and Hatori stepped out.

"Oh is this your father?" Minoru bowed politely. "It's very nice to meet you sir."

"No, Hatori isn't my father, he's just another cousin, except older. He just came here to get my schedule." Etsuko laughed, finding it hilarious that people could think Hatori was her father.

Worried that he had insulted her Minoru shook his head and stood up, laughing a bit. "I'm really sorry to cut this short but I've got to go to a student council meeting. It was very nice to meet you and I hope I see you around later." He quickly recovered his papers and walked off.

"Just another cousin?" Hatori sounded a bit depressed as he repeated what she said.

"No, what I mean to say was you're….uh…a cousin. Hatori why are you being so mean all of a sudden?"

He placed his hand on her forehead, brushing her bag out of the way. "I'll be by the house again to check up on that bruise."

Lifting her hand to and grabbing on to his gently she pulled it away. "It's just a bruise, no need to make a big deal about it. You should go home and take a nap…you need it."

"I'm fine; I'll be back later any way to give Kyo and Yuki their flu shots. As for Akito's invitation, disregard it, I'll tell him you're too sick to come today. Here's your uniform, go change and stay focused on your studies understand?"

Nodding her head she took her freshly pressed uniform and walked off to the nearest bathroom. As Hatori made his way back to the car, ignoring all the stares he was getting from the girls, he wondered about the boy Etsuko had been talking to. Something was not quite right about him, he would have to keep an eye on him for now.

He got into the car and drove off. "Etsuko isn't well enough to come home Akito."

"Whatever, I don't want to see her face anyway. Just take me back home I'm feeling ill."

***After school, at Shigures house***

"Oh goodie you're all back." Shigure greeted them at the door. "This house is so boring without you four, oh and how was your first day of school Etsuko? Learn anything fun?"

"Not really."

"Oh? Didn't meet any cute boys or make any cute high school girl friends?"

Kyo hit Shigure over the head. "Stop being such a pervert!"

Shigure sobbed as he moved away from Kyo. As usual Tohru tried to keep the peace and changed to subject. Fed up, Kyo stomped up to his room and vowed to stay there until dinner was ready.

"I'm a bit tired; I think I'm going to lay down Miss. Honda." Yuki yawned before heading to his own room.

Tohru made her way into the kitchen to being cooking dinner for everyone. Etsuko followed her in and watched her move around. "Oh I'm sorry, I should have asked before I started, did you want to help with dinner tonight?"

"I'm alright, I like watching if that alright." Etsuko smiled as Tohru nodded and continued with the dinner preparations.

"You know what Tohru, I did learn something today in class…well I guess it's not learning, it's more of a activity we did."

Tohru stopped what she was doing and looked at Etsuko. "Really, what was it?"

"It was the strangest thing I've ever done; my teacher had an exercise for all of us to do. We were all given partners, people we normally wouldn't talk to, and we had to fall backward, relying on another student to catch us. Most of us were uncomfortable with this, and we couldn't let go for more than a few inches before stopping ourselves. We laugh in embarrassment.

But then, one student, a thin, quiet, dark-haired, girl crossed her arms over her chest, closed her eyes, and leaned back. For a moment, I was sure she was going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabbed her shoulders and yanked her up harshly.

Several students yelled in amazement and some even clapped. Our teacher finally smiled. "You see", he said. "You closed your eyes that is the difference. Sometimes you can't believe what you see; you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too – even when you're in the dark, even when you're falling".

Tohru listened intently to the story, finding the point very touching.

"Tohru the noodles are burning…" Etsuko pointed towards the stove with smoke coming out from it.

As she freaked out and placed the burning pan in the sink, turning the water on to cool it off, Etsuko snuck away from the kitchen and headed up to Tohru's room. She didn't know why she shared that story with her; there wasn't really a point to it.

…_but if complete strangers can hold so much trust for others, why can't I…_

**A/N: I hope you're all still enjoying this, if you ever have advice or ways I can take the story please let me know I would love to hear some of your ideas! **


	4. Broken Dreams

**A/N: I've written and re-written this chapter four times already. I just can't get it the way I want. ( Not flowing very well.) But I think I got it this time and I like the way it turned out ( finally) and I'm sorry I haven't uploaded anything but work is a killer on my mental state, I was just so exhausted. Pretty soon I'm going to be putting up a time skip, maybe the next chapter? This is just a big dream; I wanted to show the Etsuko/Hatori relationship a little more. Okay have fun reading and thanks for all the support! **

**Broken Dreams**

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Akito screamed he threw the closet object at Etsuko, missing her face by only a few inches. "How dare you just get up and leave, then expect me to take you back!"

It took every fiber of her being for Etsuko to come back to the main house, after living on her own she knew that just like the members of the zodiac, she too was bonded to him forever. "Please…"

"I can't hear you when you mumble, speak up." He sneered and threw another object towards her, still missing her face by inches.

Clenching the hem of her dress, in attempt to keep her hands from trembling out of control, Etsuko cleared her throat. "P-please…take me back."

Watching the very same girl that had gotten their parents love and attention, tremble in fear, made Akito smile. He couldn't stand her, living most of her life care-free, unaware the dark shadows that followed the Sohma. "If you want me to take you back sister, there will be a few rules you'll follow."

He got up from the window sill and moved behind the table in the middle of the floor. "Rule one; you will not leave the main house ever again." He watched for any reaction, when he got none he continued. "Rule two; until further notice you're schooling will be done in this house, and if see you succeed then and only then will I allow you to attend an all-girls school." There was still no reaction. "And the last rule; you'll take these." He placed an orange little bottle with a white cap on the table. "I'm tired of seeing you so sad, it's disgusting, you will take these every day."

Looking up from the ground to see what he had placed on the table, she showed some puzzlement. "What…are those?"

He picked the bottle up and examined the label. "These are you're happy pills my dear, they'll take the sad, lonely you and replace her with a more…fun you. The fun, happy, lively little girl mother and father once had, it's really a shame you made them leave isn't it?"

Their parents didn't physically leave, they were still part of the Sohma family, but because how unruly Akito was, caused them too much stress and regret that they had ever raised a child like that. The inevitable happened, they asked for their memories of both their children to be erased, leaving a small five year old girl alone with the monster they had created.

"Y-yes, it is a shame." Even though years have passed and her own memories of her parents disappeared, she still longed for someone, anyone to pay attention, and take her out of the cold, dark world she was consumed in.

As she stood up to leave, Etsuko suddenly felt her body flying backwards into the wall behind her, breaking the mirror hanging, shards embedding themselves in her back. Her eyes widened as Akito pushed her harder into the wall.

He tucked her long strand of hair behind her ear and brought his mouth up to it. "Remember this pain, this is the kind of pain you will always feel, never ending and never changing, even with those damn pills you will never be normal."

The doors busted open just in time, Hatori heard the commotion going on inside and before thing got too out of hand, he intervened. Akito looked at him as he let his sister slump the floor, her back coated in crimson red blood.

"Take her; I can't stand to look at her repulsive face." Akito slowly walked away from her and sat outside watching the sky pass by, acting as if nothing had happened.

Hatori helped Etsuko up, throwing one hand over his shoulder, and holding on to her waist, she managed to walk out. They made it to a room, with a bed in the corner and a small closet of clothes.

As he sat her on the bed, he sat next to her. "Take your shirt off."

She shook her head, even though they were cousins, and he was a doctor, she couldn't bear the embarrassment of being half naked in front of him, plus she wasn't able to lift her arms up without the pain returning.

He was in no mood to play around with such serious injuries. He picked up the briefcase that sat at the floor of the bed and took out a pair of scissors. "I hope you aren't too attached to this shirt." He cut the spaghetti straps of the black shirt and began to slowly peel it off her, being careful of the glass still interested in her back.

She brought her arms up to her chest, only to be gently pushed faced down on the bed, her back exposed to Hatori. Neither of them talked, Hatori took out a pair of tweezers and began to pick the glass from her back, as Etsuko held on to her pillow and covered her face.

It was an extensive processes, picking the glass out took about two hours, and applying the alcohol and bandages took another hour. Once he was done he placed his equipment back into the briefcase and continued to sit on her bed with her until he was sure she had fallen asleep.

He left her room, closing the door behind him and made his way back to Akito. As he walked in, Akito still sat outside, looking at the birds flying by.

"Were you able to get all the glass out Hatori?"

"Yes" Hatori looked over at the shattered mirror as he answered. "But she'll be staying with me until her back has healed."

"Don't tell me that you care for that bitch?"

Hatori couldn't tell him the truth. "Of course not, as a doctor I'm obligated to make sure the Sohmas are all healthy and your sister isn't. She need to be watched to make sure her injuries don't become infected that all."

The truth was, Hatori had feelings for Etsuko, not romantic feelings but it was the kind of feeling he just couldn't explain. He tried to ignore it, but as she slowly began to convert into a deep depression that feeling couldn't be held in any longer.

"Fine, but once she's healed I want her back in this house understand?"

Hatori agreed and when he was ordered to leave he made his way back to Etsukos room and stayed there doing paperwork as he waited for her to wake up, and then they would leave to go back to his place.

One month had passed by quickly. In that one month Etsukos back healed up only leaving scars, and Hatori had found a love interest. Etsuko and Kana got along with each other very well, and in a sick twisted way it was almost as if they had become a family.

"Where's Kana today?" Etsuko walked in to the house, holding a bag full of groceries.

Hatori walked up and took the bag from her hand and walked towards the kitchen. "She asked to go out, some girls' night; she asked if you wanted to go. I think they're downtown still if you want to join."

Taking things out of the bag and placing them in their correct cupboards and shelves Etsuko laughed. "That was nice of her, but then who would make your dinner, you kind of suck at it."

"Don't discredit me; I can make a few things, in the microwave." Hatori smiled as he stared at Etsuko putting things away, he knew that the laughter she emitted was a forced laughter. That tiny pill had taken the broken Etsuko and taped her back together, but she didn't need tape, she needed something stronger, something that would be able to make the cracks less viable. What she needed was glue.

"Are you okay?"

When he snapped out of his thought he came face to face with Etsuko, looking up at him worried. "Oh, I'm fine just thinking. Now what were you going to make for dinner?"

"hmm, how about ramen?"

"Do we have the ingredient?"

"uh….no." Etsuko said depressingly.

Hatori laughed, it was a small laugh but it was rare to see him express such happiness. "How about we eat some miso soup? Its perfect weather for it."

Etsuko agreed enthusiastically and began the preparations as Hatori retired into his work room and waited for dinner.

Knocking on his door, she creaked it open and popped her head inside. "Um dinner is ready…" She noticed Hatori resting his head on the table, a book underneath him. Grabbing a blanket from a nearby room she came back and walked up to him, covering him up. "Never mind, you just sleep tonight, we can have miso soup tomorrow." She kissed him on the cheek and walked out.

Pouring a bowl of soup for herself, Etsuko kneeled at the table and ate alone. Wondering how long their happiness would last, how many more days of walks in the park, eating dinner together and just enjoying their company will there be? The sheer thought of it caused tears to run down her face, knowing that Love can sometimes be magic, but magic can sometimes... just be an illusion.

In time the magic she felt had turned into an illusion and that soon turned into a nightmare. Akito hurting Hatori's eye and Kana blaming herself was only the beginning. When Hatori had to erase all the memories from Kana that was when Etsuko knew she would never see him truly smile. She would have stayed with him but Akito had to make sure everyone was just as unhappy as he was so he ordered to the return of his sister.

Even though they didn't live with each other, Etsuko came by Hatori's house every day and took care of him as much as she could. Changing bandages and cooking meals for him was all she could do, she couldn't change what had happen but she was determined to stay by his side just as he did with her.

***End flash back***

Etsuko woke up suddenly; staring at the ceiling in the dark, tears had rolled down her eyes.

"Are you okay Etsuko?" Tohru whispered.

There was nothing but silence for a while. Then she sighed and rolled over on to her side. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Feeling a bit of hostility from her, Tohru left it at that, wishing to herself that someday she could understand Etsuko better and that they could become friends, but for now all she could do was say okay. "well please sleep well Etsuko, I don't want you to be tired for our endurance run."

She didn't respond, she simply looked at the shadowy figures.

_Sometimes when I say "Oh don't worry, I'm fine…" I just want someone, once, to look me in the eyes and just say "tell the truth." Someday…I'll let someone see the real me. _


	5. Remorse

**A/N: I've been doing some reflection on this story, and I believe I know where this story is heading. Thank you for the reviews and all the people that have added me on story alert or author alerts, etc. Okay enjoy this little comical relief, well I hope it's comical. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket, and I don't own the book "The Road" **

**Remorse**

One month had gone by pretty quickly; the leaves on the trees had all changed colors, some crimson red, golden yellow or a nice russet brown. October was nearing its end and Halloween was just a day away, the entire school wanted to do something for that particular day and with many hours of painstaking student council meetings they had come up with something fun.

"So I don't understand Yuki, what did the student council come up with?" Tohru asked innocently.

"Well Miss. Honda, we decided to throw a Halloween festival. We're going to have a haunted house, pumpkin carving contest, a hay ride, costume contest and other things."

"That's kind of western isn't?" Etsuko chimed in.

"Well yes I suppose it is, but that's kind of the point. The student council thought it would be more fun to celebrate Halloween like the westerners do, plus we were able to persuade the teachers it was educational to."

"Oh that sounds like so much fun; I never carved a pumpkin before." Tohru clapped her hands together and her face suddenly turned into one of her determined looks. "But I'll try my best!"

Kyo scoffed at Tohru determination. "Knowing you, you'd probably cut your fingers off."

"Yea…oh but I'll try very hard not to, I promise."

As the four of them continued their walk to school, Etsuko thought of an extremely important aspect that they had all overlooked.

"What about the costumes, Yuki you're the student council president so you have to, and it wouldn't be fun if the rest of us didn't join, but what are we all going to be."

Yuki thought for a while but came up with nothing.

"Don't ask me because I'm not dressing up." Kyo yelled as he broke the silence.

"No one was asking you, stupid."

Kyo could feel his face turn red. "Every time you open that damn mouth of yours nothing but crap comes out, and how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me stupid?"

"If you stop being stupid I wouldn't have to call you stupid." Yuki calmly explained, although there was a hint of anger in his voice.

Tohru looked back and forth from Kyo to Yuki, worrying that they would end up fighting like usual. "I know zodiac animals!"

The sheer randomness of Tohru's outburst caused everyone to stop walking and look at her confused.

"Uh…what I meant was, everyone could dress up as a Zodiac animal….huh, and Yuki could be a mouse…a-and Kyo you could be…" She trailed off realizing the idea was thought very well.

"That sounds like a good Idea Miss. Honda, but I think we could come up more creative don't you think?"

Tohru nodded, as she tried to think up of another idea.

Etsuko snapped her fingers as an idea popped into her head. "Hey, doesn't Aya still have that really weird shop? Hatori took me to it once, but didn't let me go in…he said something about not being for children…or something."

Yuki sighed, hanging his head in shame. "That is truly an understatement."

"We should ask Hatsuharu and Momiji if they want to join us." Tohru added just before they reached the school.

Etsuko nodded in agreement. "I'll go ask them in class, I'll see you guys' later okay?" She waved goodbye and went down the first year's hall while the others went to the second year hall.

As she walked towards her class she popped her head in to see if her cousins had arrived. Sure enough the two of them were sitting at their desks surrounded by their classmates, and ever some upperclassmen, just drooling over them. She decided to make the journey to their desk, shoving people out of her way, accidently stepping on toes.

"Excuse me…sorry…please move." She finally reached her destination, out of breath she hunched over Haru's desk, trying to catch her breath. "Y-you.…coming with me…to…Aya's place…and Momiji also."

Hatsuharu didn't understand her choppy sentence. "What?"

Letting out a large sigh Etsuko stood up, obvious she had regained her composure. "I said you and Momiji are joining Kyo, Yuki, Tohru and I at Ayame's place for Halloween costumes."

"What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you just hear me, I said-"

Haru cut her off before she was able to repeat herself. "I know what you said, I meant, what are you doing in class? You haven't been here for a few days, we thought you were sick."

"I was, and now I feel better…so I'll see you and Momiji after school." With that she turned around and began to fight through the crowd again.

"Wait Etsuko where are you going?" A childlike voice asked worrisome.

It was too late; she had been engulfed by the sea of people, and most likely didn't hear Momiji. It was true though, class was about to start and Etsuko was certainly leaving.

The past couple of days bored Etsuko out of her mind, she had already knew the things her class was talking about, and sitting inside on such a beautiful day was a waste, so for those days she wasn't in class she was sitting outside by a large golden leaf tree reading.

Today wasn't any different, she snuck out of the building, hid behind objects avoiding any teacher or student council member that walked her way, and eventually ended up by her tree. Sitting underneath it, grabbing a black covered book she opened and bean to read.

As she sat underneath her tree, reading her book, a shadow loomed over her, blocking her from the sun. As she looked up to see who it was, her eyes widened. It couldn't be could it? The boy from a month ago was standing in front of her.

"Mind if I join you?" He asked but sat down without waiting for her reply. "What book are you reading?"

"It's called The Road, It is a post-apocalyptic tale of a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months, across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that has destroyed much of civilization and, in the intervening years, almost all life on earth." Etsuko said bluntly as she showed him the black cover with red words written on it.

He didn't know how to react to the description to the book, but not wanting to be rude Minoru nodded politely. "That Sounds…interesting. You know I really should turn you in for skipping."

"Yea, but you're skipping too, and you aren't really on the student council are you?" Etsuko shut her book and put it back in her bag.

Minoru suddenly began to laugh. "You've caught me! I'm not on the student council and I am skipping but I was just messing with you Sohma."

Out of pure nervousness Etsuko joined in with his laughter. "Oh…"

"In seriousness, I came by to ask you something." He grabbed her hands and brought them up to his chest, pulling her closer to him. His face had a sense of serenity to it.

Her entire body was trembling, not from admiration, but from utter fear. A boy she hardly knew was giving her a look of lust.

'_This is what Shigure must have meant when he warned me about the boys.' _Etsuko thought to herself, she could feel her face turning red, her palms getting sweaty and her heart beating faster with every passing second.

Minoru continued to hold on to her hands. "I was wondering if you would like to…" he paused for some dramatic effect, his brown hair blowing in the mysteriously sudden wind. "…if you would like to…skip school with me."

The atmosphere around the two changed completely. Etsuko was left on the edge of confusion and cardiac arrest.

'_He…he wanted to skip….why go to all that trouble just to ask if I wanted to skip school with him?' _

"I'll take your silence as a yes." He stood up, now only holding onto one of her hands.

Still dizzy about the entire situation, Etsuko didn't protest much and soon she found herself running behind him.

Stopping in front of the schools gate Minoru pulled out a key grinning while he unlocked it and slithered his way out to the other side, pulling Etsuko along every minute.

Finally she had come back to reality and stopped walking, causing Minoru to look back surprised. "I don't think we should be doing this…what if we get caught."

"Don't worry; it's going to be fine. Now I'm starving let's getting a quick bite to eat, oh I know lets go get some costumes for the festival…no we should -" He stopped himself, realizing he was making decisions on his own. "I'm sorry Sohma, what do you want to do."

"Uh…I guess…we could get something to eat."

With that Minoru took off in a sprint, Etsuko sailing along behind him. They stopped at a street vender who was selling fresh Yaki soba. He ordered one plate of the fried noodles and both sat down at a nearby bench.

They ate their snack in silence, and once they had finished Minoru threw the plate away and rubbed his belly. "That was delicious, now onward to find Halloween costumes. I know this really cool shop, I pass by it every day from school but I've never been in it and I really want to."

Etsuko smiled as she followed him once again. "so this shop…sells costumes?"

He put his finger up to his chin, and thought for a moment. "I don't really know. I've seen costumes in the window…although they didn't look like something for Halloween…I guess we'll find out."

It wasn't long until they reached the place. As Etsuko looked up at the shops name, _Trust comes first; Ayame; value from the heart__, _her face had turned ghost white. "T-this is the shop…you were talking about?"

Minoru looked over at Etsuko. "So you've heard of it? Great let's go in then!" He grabbed her hand and walked through the doors. He looked around, disappointment filling his heart. "Man, this is a buzz kill, I thought it would be cooler than this…it just looks like a lame craft store, never mind lets go."

"Okay, yea we should go now." Etsuko spun around making her way back outside, but as she placed her hand on the door knob a voice came from the back causing Minoru to stop walking.

"How dare you call my little shop a mere craft store! You should be sentenced to one thousand lives in hell for such a comment."

'_I'm too late, it's all over…' _Etsuko hung her head.

Coming out from the back, a tall, long grey hair man came out wearing an extravagant yellow ballroom dress.

Minoru just looked at the strange man yelling at him, he wasn't sure how to react to a man in a dress.

"This shop is for fantasies, and dreams to come true, I spend night and day making my customers dreams come true. And to have you-" He stopped his rant, pushing Minoru out of the way he looked down at Etsuko.

'_Oh no…he saw me, oh please Ayame don't say anything stupid.' _

"Etsuko what are you doing here?" He looked at her and then at the boy he had brushed aside. His golden eyes filled with excitement. "Oh don't tell me…you two are on a date, yes that must be it! Your face says it all Etsi-chan. I'm simply honored that you choose my place to pronounce your love to him."

The expression on her face was utter dismay, she couldn't believe that Ayame would just go off and assume such things, well she could but being the victim was much worse than being a bystander.

Ayame wrapped his arms around her shoulders; his attitude went from excitement to dismay. "Oh but what of Tori-San…he will surely be saddened…maybe I should give him a call!"

Reaching for his cell phone, Etsuko knocked it out of his hands, glaring at him. "Don't even think about it."

Minoru watched the two of them argue about calling some Hatori guy. He looked at the man in the dress a bit longer, and suddenly it came to him. "Hey, you must be Yuki's brother…yea now that I think of it he kind of looks like you."

Ayame's eyes lit up from the sound of his brother being mentioned. He looked over at Minoru and drew closer to him. "Do you really think that? My dear brother is truly starting to look more like me. That must mean he admires me so much he would go to such great lengths to imitate me look."

Minoru stepped back intimated by Ayame's personality, he then felt his hand being held on to. Looking down he noticed Etsuko had grabbed on to his hand and gently pulled him away from Ayame's path.

"Anyway, Aya it was nice seeing you but I think we're leaving now." Etsuko smiled as she towards the door.

"Wait, Etsuko what about our costume?" Minoru whispered

Letting out a sigh she stopped and turned around. "Ayame, would you mind making the two of us some costumes for our school festival?"

"Why of course, I'd do anything for young love, what would you like, a maids outfit for you and a stunning tuxedo for your boyfriend, or perhaps you would like something a bit more daring…possibly something more seductive?"

Etsuko could feel her face turn red again. "No, nothing along those lines…just…make mine a pirate and…Minoru can be pirate to."

"I wouldn't go with that, but it is your decision after all. Very well as soon as Mine comes back from her errand we'll get started. Would you two like to stay a while?"

"No, we have other things to do, in fact don't worry about giving us the finished product Yuki and the others are coming by later…so you can give them ours and we'll get them later." Etsuko pulled Minoru out of the store with her. Using her other hand to rubbed her temples, exhausted from what had just taken place.

Minoru looked down at his hand, a strange feeling going through his body when he saw his hand intertwined with hers.

"I'm sorry"

He looked up at Etsuko and smiled. "What are you sorry about?"

"For Ayame, he seems a bit weird but he really is a nice guy, I should have told you about him before we went into the shop."

"It's not a big deal, so he's a bit eccentric but that what makes him really cool to be around. Since he said Yuki was his brother that must mean he's…your cousin?"

She nodded; they continued to walk down the street going in no particular direction.

"Wow, you must have lots of cousins. Let's see, there's Yuki, Kyo, Momiji, Hatsuharu, uh that Hatori guy and now this Ayame."

"Trust me, there are many more."

He suddenly began to laugh. "Sometimes I wish I had a big family, but it's only me and my mother."

Etsuko looked up at him. "What about your father?"

"My dad has never been in the picture." He let out a small snicker. "As my mom puts it, 'he knocked me up and got his ass out of there.'"

Etsuko decided to leave it at that. They walked around some more before the sun began to set, and both of them thought it was a good time to part ways for the day.

"I'm glad you decided to skip with me, I had lots of fun." Minoru smiled.

"Me to."

"I guess Ayame was right, it was a date after all, well see ya tomorrow at the festival, oh and don't forget my costume." He ran off and slowly disappeared down the street.

She looked waved goodbye hesitantly; wondering to herself if today really was a date. They held hands for most of the day, and he did buy lunch.

'_Oh god, what is Aya was right…no it wasn't a date Minoru was just kidding, right?'_

As Etsuko got home she was greeted by Shigure holding a package out to her. "Aya dropped it off not too long ago."

She opened the box and just as she expected, it was the costumes he made. Pulling hers out, her face turned ghost white for the second time that day. "Is…he…serious?"

Shigure looked at the mid-thigh length dress, a white blouse, with an extremely low neck line, a black corset for the torso and ending with ruffles along the hem of the dress. "Well that does look like Aya's work."

Dropping the dress back in the box Etsuko stood. "I'm heading to bed." She walked up the stairs and into her room. Tomorrow would certainly turn out to be interesting.


	6. Premonitions

**A/N: What chapter is this? Six I think…anyway it's out just in time for Halloween but sadly only part of it is really halloweeney… (Ha-ha) thanks again for all the alerts, and reviews. (I would really like for some of the people who have put this as an alert to write a comment on what you think so I have a good idea what you guys liked or didn't like. This chapter is kind of getting the storyline rolling so enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fruits Basket**

**Premonitions: **

It was another nice autumn day outside. The school had been transformed into an array of actives for the students to do. People dressed up in typical costumes, zombies, vampires, and so forth. The Sohma, Tohru and even Minoru stood in the middle of all the chaos not sure what to start with.

"Oh Tohru and I are going on a hay ride, so we can sit real close and stay warm." Momiji began to pull on her arm before he got hit over the head by Kyo's fist.

"Stupid don't you go and make decisions for without asking."

Tears weld up in Momiji eyes as he held his head. "Ow! Kyo that hurt!"

"Yea, keep it up and it'll hurt even more you little brat!"

"Hey where did Yuki get to? Wasn't he just here a few minutes ago?" Etsuko asked as she looked around for him.

Tohru looked next to her, where Yuki had been standing, but not anymore. "Oh you're right! I think he had to go to a student council thing."

"Just like that damn rat, leaving without telling anyone." Kyo crossed his arms over his chest.

"He'll be back soon, anyway let's get started on the actives I saw we do the haunted house."

"No, Tohru gets scared, 'member last time?" Momiji reminded them of the incident, when they got kicked out because they had broken things.

Tohru felt bad for not being able to handle scary places, she really didn't want everyone to not have fun because of her. "N-no it's okay, I can handle it."

"There no way in hell we're going through that again. I say we just go on the stupid hay ride." Kyo then took off towards the attraction. Haru, Momiji and Tohru all followed leaving Minoru and Etsuko still standing there.

"Don't you want to go with them?" Minoru placed a hand on his hip.

Etsuko pulled the jacket she had on tighter. "Not really, I don't like hay rides, but if you wanna go I'll join you."

He smiled and shook his head. "No, I don't like hay rides either, something about them just makes my skin tingle."

Etsuko didn't push the subject any further; she looked him up and down and had to admit that he looked really cute in his costume.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing I was just thinking that Ayame did a pretty good job on your costume." Etsuko blushed slightly as she looked at the ground.

He looked down at what he was wearing, thin black pants that had gone down to his knees, an oversized red belt, and a white ruffled top. He didn't think it was as amazing as Etsuko thought. He moved closer to her, grabbing a hold of the zipper from her jacket and gently pulling it down, exposing the rest of her costume. "My costume is alright, but I think he did an amazing job on yours, you shouldn't be disgracing his work by wearing this jacket over it."

The blush on Etsukos' face had covered her entire face and had changed a few shades brighter. "No, it's really cold out…I n-need it on." She zipped it up again and rubbed her hands over arms pretending to shiver.

He liked to make her all flustered; he found it a bit cute. "Well then what do you want to do? Oh I know lets go make a scarecrow together."

The two of them headed towards the east side of the school where the scarecrow making area was taking place. They both picked a bale of hay, a hat, a pillow case, pants and a shirt. Going off to a clear spot they began to construct their scarecrow, first by tying the ends of the pant legs closed so the hay wouldn't fall out.

Etsuko held the pants open for Minoru to shove hay in until the jeans grew fat. Taking the shirt he connected the shirt and the pants together by tying them together, making a waist. Then they both began to stuff the shirt, making it just as fat as the pants.

Minoru wiped the sweat from his forehead; he didn't realize how labor intensive making a scarecrow truly was. "Alright…now for the head."

Etsuko held the pillowcase open for him, watching him place hay in it and then tying it up and drawing a face.

He turned the head towards Etsuko showing her the face he made, slanted eyes and an open mouth with sharp teeth inside. "Think this will scare those pesky crows?"

"Oh for sure, why with a face like that I'm even scared." Etsuko laughed along with Minoru.

Placing the head upon the scarecrows shoulder Minoru tied it up and got a pair of scissors to cut off the extra string. As he came closer to the string his hand suddenly began to shake. He wasn't sure why it had suddenly done that, maybe the fear of messing up made him nervous, but it was only string it wasn't like he was doing major surgery. Shutting his eyes he closed the scissors and only opened them when he heard a thud on the ground.

Etsuko watched the head fall from the shoulders to the ground, she wasn't sure what had just happened but the awkwardness of it all caused her to laugh hysterically.

"Ok, so I panicked a little. I can fix this." Minoru said calmly as he picked the head up and examined it.

Etsuko placed her hand over her mouth, trying to control her laughter. "You cut off his head!"

"Details, details." Minoru placed the pillow case back on the shoulders of the scarecrow and found enough fabric to tie it back on. "See, all better."

Wiping the tears from her eyes Etsuko nodded. "I guess, hopefully the crows don't laugh at it too."

"I don't think I've heard you laugh this hard before…it's nice." Minoru stood holding his hand out for Etsuko, while his other hand was wrapped around the scarecrows waits.

Taking his hand she lifted herself off the ground, and brushed the dirt off her clothes. He was right, she hadn't laughed that hard in a very long time, not since Hatori had to erase Kanas memories.

The two of them stood there talking for a while, about their plans for Halloween and neither had anything they were going to do. They heard familiar yelling getting closer.

"What the hell is that?" Hatsuharu asked Kyo while he looked down at his hand.

Kyo didn't have anything in his clenched hand. "It's what's going to keep me from utterly destroying you!"

"Oh so you think you're all big a bad now huh? The crying you did on the hay ride was just a show for your little girl friend?" It was obvious that Haru had turned 'black'.

"What the hell are you talking about? I wasn't crying!"

Minoru was still getting used to all the Sohmas personalities, especially Hatsuharus since seemed to change every so often.

"Etsuko, Haru and Kyo-Kyo are fighting again!" Momiji ran up to her and tugged on her arm.

"Hey I told you to stop calling me Kyo-Kyo!"

Hatsuharu grabbed ahold of Kyo's shirt. "He'll call you whatever the hell he wants you to call you!"

Tohru was begging the two of them not to fight and Momiji began to cry about the situation, causing Etsuko's head to spin.

'_I wonder if this is Hatori feels when he's dealing with everyone?'_

Noticing Etsukos uneasiness, Minoru took a hold of her hand and snuck her away from the group. "You're cousins are interesting Etsuko, how do you handle all of that chaos?"

The truth of the matter was she didn't normally deal with any of her cousins. As she sat in the main house, she watched them come home from school, or go play outside, but that was the extent of having to 'deal' with them. Occasionally she would run into them whenever she went to Hatori's house but it was only a quick glance, never conversations, and suddenly having to be around the craziness that they brought gave Etsuko a bit of anxiety.

"Hey, I think I'm going to head home. My head hurts a little bit." Etsuko let go of his hand and began to walk off only to feel a hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't hurt your feelings did I, I'm real sorry if I did." Minoru watched her face for a sign of hurt.

She forced a large smile on her face. "No, I'm fine really don't worry so much; I'm just going to go home a lay down."

He could see through that fake smile, she wasn't fooling him, he had seen that smile so many times before. A smile that only masked the true emotions, but there was nothing he could do to stop her, so he let go of her shoulder and watched her leave.

Etsuko was able to sneak off school grounds; and instead of walking towards Shigures house she headed towards the estate. Reaching the gate she looked at the nameplate, reading 'Sohma' and sighed to herself.

'_What the hell am I doing back here, why is it every time I can't handle life I come back to the very place I hated to be?' _

She heard the door slide open and a brown haired boy looked up at her before opening it all the way. "Oh it's just you, why don't you just walk in are you scared?"

'_Perfect Hiro is here…not what I need.'_

She walked past him ignoring his smart ass remark.

"I haven't seen you around here for a month; did Shigure finally kick you out?"

He was getting on her nerves, besides one other family member, Hiro was her least favorite always running his mouth like he knew everything. "Not now Hiro, is Hatori home?"

"He's with Akito; you know I don't get it. Why do you always run to Hatori when you have a problem? Don't you think that he's got enough to deal with, or maybe you like when Akito takes up his time to get back at you, hey are you listening, don't walk away from me when I'm telling you something."

She had enough of his talking, all he was just a little spoiled kid who for whatever reason wasn't at school. As she continued to Hatori's house, deciding to wait for him until he was done with Akito, she wondered if what Hiro said was true. Did she really always run to him, she knew that he dealt with a lot of people and of course whatever Akito wanted him to do, but until now she never really thought much about it.

Getting to the front of his house she checked the door, finding it unlocked she let herself in and walked around as she waited for him to get back. Walking into his office she went over to his book shelf and looked at the picture of Kana.

Picking it up, she let out a sigh. "I'll never be able to melt his heart like you did. Ever since you left I've been trying to get him back to his old self, but no matter what I do…his heart is still remains frozen."

She placed the picture back and decided to flip through one of his medical books. Grabbing one by random she plopped herself at his desk and swiveled in his chair before flipping through the pages. It wasn't until she had gotten bored that she decided to go back to Shigure's house, not wanting to bother Hatori than she already did.

By the time she had reached Shigures house it had gotten dark. Tohru whipped up some leftovers and retired to her room when she made sure Etsuko didn't need anything else.

"You're home late." Shigure muttered from behind his newspaper.

"Yea, I decided to just walk around, you know to clear my head." Etsuko picked at her food before she began to scoop some in her mouth.

Shigure didn't answer; he simply sat there continuing with his reading.

"Do you think…I bother Hatori too much?"

The question caught him off guard, putting his paper down he looked at her questionably. "What makes you ask that all of a sudden?"

"Nothing, just a question."

"Well I highly doubt you bother tori, remember he dealt with Aya and I for most of his life, if anyone should bother him it would be me and Aya." Shigure laughed as he thought back to all the trouble Hatori had to get them out of.

After a few minutes of silence there was a knock at the door. "Who could that be at such an hour." Shigure asked as he stood up and answered it.

As the door slid open a drenched looking Minoru stood on the other side. "I-is this the Sohma residence?"

"Well it's one of them, how may I help you?" Shigure disregarded the fact he was soaked.

"I need to speak with Etsuko Sohma, is she home?"

Etsuko walked up from behind Shigure, and looked to see who was at the door, her eyes widening as she recognized the figure. "Minoru…what are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry for just coming unannounced but…I need to talk to you."

Shigure left the two teens by themselves; he hid away in the next room so he was able to eavesdrop.

"It's been bothering me all day; I went home I tried everything to get it off my mind but nothing worked. So I snooped around and found out where Yuki lived and came here hoping to find you. " Minoru never took his eyes off the ground.

"What are you talking about? Are you alright?" She went to go feel his forehead but pulled back when he steep further away from her.

"I'm fine, it's you though, you're not fine and it's pissing me off."

Her eyes furrowed, not sure if it was out of anger or confusion. "W-what are you talking about?"

Clenching his fist he took several feet towards her, causing Etsuko to step backwards further into the house. "You…the person standing in front of me right now isn't the real Etsuko."

She could feel her heart sink from the mention of the lack of realness she showed. "Minoru I think…you should go home, you don't know what your-"

He pushed her aside stomping into the kitchen looking for something. When he spotted it sitting on the counter he grabbed it and spun around. "This is what I'm talking about." He showed her the orange bottle in his hand. "This isn't the real you, it isn't the real you I want to know."

'_How did he know about those?' _Etsuko stood frozen in front of him.

"When you laughed really hard earlier this morning, I realized that I have never seen you that happy before. It was like someone had switched you out with a stunt double, but I don't want to know the stunt double…I want to know you!"

There was a long silence. Etsuko had no words for him, either from shock or anger she couldn't think of anything to tell him.

***Flash Back***

"_It's quite disgraceful don't you think?" One woman whispered to another._

"_Oh yes, to think the head of the family has to deal with such an unruly sibling."_

"_So unruly she was put on drugs just so she would be presentable." The two women continued to gossip, unaware that Etsuko was just beyond the slightly cracked open door, listening to every word. _

"_Even more of a shame knowing that if her brother was to pass, she would take his place as head of the family, and can you just imagine a girl running the family, and not just any girl a mentally unstable one at that." The women laughed._

_Their laughter came to an abrupt halt when the door slide open, an angry ten year old girl looking up at the. "Don't laugh at me." _

_The women continued their laughter, not caring what she had just said._

***End flashback***

"I said stop laughing!" Etsuko yelled as she covered her ears falling to her knees, tears running down her face.

Minoru didn't seem to have an expression on his face. He simply kneeled in front of her and embraced her tightly. "Please Etsuko, let me get to know the girl I saw laughing, I want you to just be yourself."

In the other room Shigure leaned against the wall, wondering to himself if he had made the right choice by letting this boy interfere in his families secrets.

***Flash Back***

_Shigure had just gotten off the phone with Etsukos teacher. He put on some shoes and left the house in search for her. On his little journey he ran into a frantic boy, out of curiously Shigure had asked him what was wrong, and the boy indulged his curiosity by telling him. _

"_I'm looking for a girl with black hair, her last name is Sohma…you wouldn't happen to know her would you?"_

_Shigure raised an eyebrow. "Since you mentioned it, I do know her. In fact the girl you speak of is my dear cousin." _

_His eyes lit up with hope. "Do you think, or do you mind telling me where I could find her?" _

"_Perhaps, but why do you want to know?" _

_His cheeks turned a light pink shade. "It's just…something to seem a little off and I wanted to make sure she was alright." _

_Shigure stood looking at the boy. Thoughts on whether or not to let him visit ran through his head. He then let out a big sigh and took out a piece of scrap paper. "Pen." _

_A flustered Minoru scrambled for a pen in his book bag and handed it to him. He watched Shigure write scribble something down and then was handed the paper and the pen back. Looking down he read what seemed to be an address._

"_Come by about nine, and when you come by make sure you don't mention who gave you the address. As to your reason, you'll go into the kitchen on the counter to your right, and next to the sink will be a little orange bottle. Take it, and don't give it back, now keep in mind if you choose to go through with this, there is no guarantee your outcome, or future with the Sohma family. What you may find may be upsetting." _

_Minoru didn't fully understand what the man in the robe was talking about but he bowed politely and thanked him before he ran off." _

_***End flashback***_

Etsuko pushed Minoru away gently, her gaze still focused on the floor. "You…really want to see me without my medicine?"

"Listen, I don't know exactly what's going on, but if the things in that bottle is hiding the real you from me, then yes…I want to see you without them."

"You won't like it, possibly even hate it."

Minoru took his hand and placed them on either side of her face, bringing her head back to stare at him. "In time we hate that which we often fear, but I could never find you frightening so….therefore I can never hate you, and no matter what may happen, I'll be by your side."

Etsuko and Minoru stayed on the ground for a while longer until had gotten really late. Minoru decided to head home before his mother worried and as he passed the door Shigure was standing he whispered a soft 'thank you.'

As he walked home, Minoru thought just what he had gotten himself into, but with his hand in his pocket fiddling with the bottle of pills he had taken, the thought left his mind only leaving him with contemplations of what the next day may bring.


	7. Revenge

**A/N: Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. I just got caught up with life but here you go. Thanks to hidansgirl1234's review I decided to show how Akito would react to a very different Etsuko (without her pills) Uhm please enjoy review and have fun! **

**Revenge****:**

A gust of wind found its way into the Sohmas house, causing Yuki, Tohru and Kyo to shiver. As they all knelt around the kitchen Kyo and Yuki were both staring at Shigure who calmly sipped his tea and tried to ignore the cold stares he was getting.

"Alright spit it out you pervert, why the hell is there a big ass hole where the door used to be?"

Shigure looked up from his cup. "Whatever do you mean Kyo?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean? Why the hell is there a damn hole?"

"Oh well, it's quite a funny story, you see Etsuko got up this morning and kicked it down." Shigure said nonchalantly.

The three of them looked at Shigure with more confusion.

***Flash Back***

"_Today's the day I'm going to do it!" Etsuko stomped down the stairs causing Shigure to perk his head up from reading his paper. _

"_What are you going on about?"_

_Etsuko had an evil grin on her face as she clenched her fists. "I feel great, those damn pills are finally out of the way and now I can go back home and teach that freak a lesson." She wasn't speaking directly to Shigure, more of an oath to herself._

_Shigure sighed, she would always get like this and as soon as the side effect wore off she'd be back in a depressive state. "Well, don't be gone too long, Tohru's making dumplings tonight." _

"_Don't worry…all I need is five minutes with him and then I ring his tiny little neck and watch him slowly breathe his last breath." She let out a cackle and kicked down the entrance to the house and ran off into the woods, leaving Shigure to read his paper once more."_

***End Flash Back***

"I don't quite understand Shigure, where did Etsuko go exactly?" Tohru asked while trying to fix the doors screen.

"Oh, well she went back to the main house to try to kill Akito." He chimed.

Both Kyo and Yuki looked back at Shigure in shock.

"K-kill….oh shouldn't we stop her, I mean what if she really does it? She wouldn't should we…oh what should we do." Tohru scrambled to the phone and picked it up hoping to reach the main house.

Shigure gently took the receiver from Tohru and put it back on the phone. "Now, don't you fret Tohru. Etsuko always does stuff like this. It's simply a tiny side effect, if she stops taking those pills then she becomes quite angry, but just for a day or so."

"And who the hell stop giving those to her." Kyo screamed as he clonked Shigure over the head.

Tears ran down his face as he ran behind Yuki.

"Don't use me as a shield." Yuki sighed; it was too early for all this commotion.

"Did you really stop giving her pills Shigure?" Tohru asked worriedly.

Shigure pulled himself together and put on a serious face. "Yes, it was something I had to do."

"Liar, you just wanted some excitement didn't you?" Kyo mumbled under his breath.

"Perhaps in the beginning to stir thing up around here, but when I saw ran into that boy the other day, seeing how worried he was about Etsuko, I thought just maybe he would be able to pull her out of her rut."

"_I wonder though, how Etsuko is feeling right now. If she's lonely, scared…I just hope she's safe_." I Tohru shut her eyes praying to herself.

***Meanwhile; with Etsuko***

Etsuko stood in front of the entrance to the estate, clenching her fists even tighter. "Oh, why the hell is it so hard for me to just walk in?" Her hand would reach for the door put always pulled away the last second, she then would begin to pace back and forth curing to herself.

Twenty minutes must have gone by before Etsuko stopped pacing back and forth and decided to go in. As she reached for the door, she was surprised when it slid open exposing an entertained Hiro on the other side.

"Are you done yet? What do you think you're doing walking back and forth talking to yourself? Are you stupid or something, oh I know I bet you're just scared aren't you? Well come in already, I didn't open the door to just watch you stand there." He turned his back on her and walked off, knowing all too well she would follow.

Etsuko did exactly as Hiro suspected, she followed him in and slid the door shut behind her. "Listen you punk, I didn't come here to chat, just tell me whether or not by brother is home."

"I don't know I've been inside all day, I'm not his babysitter you know, I don't care where he goes, I-" His little rant was cut short by a thump on the head, causing him to double over holding the back the tears in his eyes.

"I told you I wasn't here to chat, now if you don't mind I'll be leaving." Etsuko walked off heading towards the main house. She was determined to find Akito and end things once and for all.

As she made it the front door of the main house Etsuko barged in, without hesitation this time, catching all the maid and butlers off guard. She placed her hand on one of the maids shoulder and spun her around. "Hey old woman, tell me where my brother is."

"Ma-Madam what are you doing here?" The maid sounded surprised.

"I live here, now tell me where the hell my brother is."

The old woman nodded. "Y-yes, well you see madam he went on an errand but he'll be back shortly."

Etsuko looked at the maid for some time, trying to spot any kind of deception. Deciding that the woman was telling the truth she let go of her and walked towards Akitos room. "That's a damn shame; I guess I'll just wait for him then."

"No, you can't he doesn't allow anyone in there without him being present." The woman's plea was futile as Etsuko continued.

"Bite me, and why don't you send him in as soon as he walked through those door; Kay?" She opened the door to Akitos room and slide them shut behind her, enclosing herself in the darkness.

As she waited for his return Etsuko walked over to the table where Akito always sat behind when speaking to her or any other Sohma. She plopped herself down where her brother normally would be and a grin snuck across her face.

"So this is how it feels huh? Being the one behind the table, seeing exactly what Akito sees…well I've got to admit, being on this side of the table is far better than being stuck on the receiving end." She continued to sit there in the dark until the doors opened, letting light from the hall way creep in.

Akito stared at the girl sitting in his place, he dismissed Hatori ordering him to leave them be. Closing the door behind him Akito seemed to glide over to the table and for the first time took a seat in front of his sister.

"Well it's been a very long time sister."

Etsuko face stayed cold as Akito greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, I know that look…seems like you've been a bad girl and stopped taking your medicine."

Etsuko finally cracked a grin. "I suppose I have been, and I assume you know what I'm doing here?"

The two of them continued to stare at each other, filling the room with tension, and in a blink of an eye the two were reaching across the table, grabbing ahold of each other's throats.

Akitos eyes widened as he tightened his grip on his sister. The two of them stayed in the position for quite some time.

Etsuko could feel her head getting lighter and her vision became more blurry. The grip Akito had on her was much stronger, and the fact that he was only a few inches taller than her made all the difference in the world.

Her knees began to buckle, slamming into the table losing her grip on him. Akito took this opportunity to 'finish' her off. He let go of her neck and kneed her in the stomach, hard enough that she coughed up blood.

"What's wrong? Feeling a little bit down?" The question was followed by Akito grabbing a handful of hair from Etsuko and slamming her head down on the table, causing the table to spilt in two.

Hearing the commotion going on Hatori knew that he had made the right choice to stay close by the door. He slid the door open, watching Akito repeatedly kicking Etsuko's curled up body.

Hatori quickly ran and tackled Akito to the ground, it wasn't hard enough to hurt him just enough to buy some time for Etsuko to pick herself up and leave. As he watched Etsuko stager out, Akito was able to push him off and begin hitting him, although it had little effect since it was more of a tantrum than hate.

Etsuko had found her way out of the main house and into someone's back yard. Luckily for her no one was home and they had a tiny pond where she could wash off her face. The cold water felt refreshing and once she was done getting the blood out of her eyes and mouth she looked at the reflecting in the pond, only to be caught off guard when she saw Kureno standing behind her.

She stood up and spun around facing a sullen looking man. "K-Kureno…"

The brown haired man continued to stare before he spoke. "Etsuko, what are you doing here? I thought you were living with Shigure."

"Yea, well I had to take care of a few things…what the hell do you want"

Word had gotten around fast, so Kureno was aware of the beating Etsuko had just received. "Aren't you tired of this, of fighting with Akito, more importantly causing Hatori and the rest of the zodiac members so much grief?"

The question surprised Etsuko; it wasn't like Kureno to blame anybody for Akito's actions. "What are you talking about?"

"Every time you cause Akito to become angry, he takes most of his anger out on Hatori, or anyone else that just happens to be by. Why do you always come by when you're angry? Do enjoy causing trouble for the rest of us?"

Etsuko could feel the anger inside of her boil. She took a few quick steps towards him, causing Kureno to stumble backwards a bit. Poking his chest Etsuko looked up at him. "You listen to me Kureno; I have spent years in that house. When Yuki exposed the family secret all those years ago who do you think Akito took the rest of his anger out on? Or when Kyo changed into his true form because Kagura wanted to see his bracelet, when Hatori and Kana wanted to get married, at the end of the day who the hell do you think was sitting in his room taking a beating for the stupidity of everyone else?"

She shoved Kureno out of her way as she dashed off and made her way out of the estate. Not looking where she was going Etsuko ran into something quite hard and fell backwards on to the ground. "Watch where you're going!"

"Etsuko?"

The familiar voice caused Etsuko to look up. "Minoru…"

Minoru kneelt down. "Hey Etsuko what are you doing here?"

'_It's his fault; all of this is his fault. If he just stayed out of it I wouldn't be here.'_

The anger began to build up again. Etsuko raised her hand and slammed her fist against his chest. "This is all your responsibility, if you had just let me take my stupid pills I wouldn't be like this."

Minoru let her hit him a while longer, when the fifth or sixth punch came closer he reached out and grabbed ahold of her wrist and pulled her up to her feet. "Are you finished?"

Etsuko rested her head against his chest and nodded, feeling worn out.

"Good, now let's just forget that today even happened, I know let's just go to the park and swing for a bit." He didn't wait for a reply he just began to walk, holding on to her hand. As they reached the park they both took a seat in a swing and began to swing back and forth slowly.

"Sorry." Etsuko whispered as she kept her gaze at the ground.

Minoru laughed unexpectedly. "Don't be sorry, I know you didn't mean to hit me."

"No, not about that, I'm sorry for saying it was your fault…truth is, it's not it's really my fault. For allowing myself to get like this."

Minoru sighed as he looked straight ahead. "It is my fault, I was the one who stole those pills, but I'm glad…because today I got to see an emotion that I've never seen from you."

'_These emotions are exactly why I had to take those pills…without them I would be a raging mad lunatic."_

"Oh and Etsuko, I want to let you know that tomorrow I'm going to be taking you to a secret location so come meet me at the park before school." With that Minoru jumped off the swing and waved goodbye as he ran off.

Etsuko sat in the park until the sun had gone half way down. As she heard footsteps get closer she stopped swinging and looked up to see Hatori standing in front of her.

"Oh, its just you. What do you want?"

"I need to take a look at your injuries."

Etsuko continued to stare at Hatori, looking for any sign that Akito had taken the rest of his anger out on him.

"I'm fine, he simply just ordered me to leave and began to trash his room. Now I can examine you here in the park or at Shigures house."

Getting off the swing Etsuko took a step closer to Hatori and embraced him. "Can I…go back to your house? I don't want the others to see me like this and worry."

Hatori stood there coldly until Etsuko let go. "Just for tonight, let's go." He walked away from her and towards the car.

As the two of them drove back to the main house they got in using a back entrance that had missed going by the main house. Etsuko walked into Hatori's house and sat on the bed that had always been there for her since she could remember.

Hatori examined her face, cleaning a few scratches and bandaging them up, and he felt her torso for broken ribs. "I heard that you stopped taking the pills….are you certain that's a wise move?"

Etsuko shrugged. "No, but …"

"That boy, you be careful not to get him too involved I don't want a repeat of last time." Hatori butted in before he took his leave, leaving Etsuko in the spare room.

Etsuko feel back onto the bed and shut her eyes. "No, we certainly don't want another repeat…that would be most heartbreaking."


End file.
